Kenna Elpers vividly remembers stepping up to her mark, facing the backs of the coaches seated in front of her, taking a deep breath, and belting out a song. Then, a chair turned. A coach wanted her voice.
True, the “coaches” were her 10-year-old friends, the “chairs” were office furniture, and the “set” was her Posey County home. As a child, the aspiring musician dreamed of appearing on “The Voice.” Now, she’s getting her big moment on Season 30 of NBC’s long-running talent competition.
“It’s such a surreal experience,” Elpers, 23, told Evansville Living the morning her audition episode aired. “It’s a very emotional thing. You’re putting yourself out on the line.”
The set at Universal Studios’ Stage 30 is a far cry from Lamasco Bar & Grill (now Ray Leo’s at Lamasco), where her cousin Andrea Wirth — one half of the hit acoustic duo The Honey Vines — invited the then-12-year-old to join her weekly sets. At age 13, the budding singer-songwriter started performing country covers and original tunes at solo shows at The Hornet’s Nest Steakhouse and the former Roca Bar North and Kevin’s Backstage and opened for singer Josh Turner at Lincoln Amphitheatre in Spencer County. “All through high school, I just wanted to be onstage,” she says.
Elpers committed to a career in music. After graduating from North Posey Senior High School in 2021, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and studied music business at Middle Tennessee State University in nearby Murfreesboro. Connections made in Music City helped her score an in-person interview for “The Voice” last summer. She was one of a few dozen singers among thousands of applicants who were selected to shoot televised blind auditions in May in California.
Season 30 of “The Voice” premiered Sept. 21. Elpers appeared Sept. 23 for her “blind audition,” when four celebrity coaches — Kelly Clarkson, Riley Green, Adam Levine, and Queen Latifah are this season’s lineup — listen to contestants while facing away from the stage. Coaches press a button to turn their chairs if they’re interested in adding a voice to the 12-singer team they are building for the competition. “You have 90 seconds to get a turn, and I went in thinking, ‘I just need one to turn,’” she says.
Elpers’ version of Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse” snagged the attention of Queen Latifah and Green — not that Elpers noticed at first. “When I’m onstage, I click into a mode and I’m thinking, ‘This part’s coming up, you need to be ready for that note.’ I didn’t realize Queen Latifah turned around until I heard people cheering,” Elpers laughs. “I looked up, she pointed at me, and I let loose. Viewers will see it on my face when I realize.”
If she thought the blind audition was the hard part, next came an enviable task: choosing her coach between the rap legend and the country musician. “Riley said, ‘I could hear a little bit of nerves on you, Kenna, but I got to thinking, I’m nervous, too. It’s my first time doing something like this. We can be nervous together,’” Elpers recalls. “Queen almost had me, and then Riley said that. I thought, ‘Wow, that really calmed me down. We’re in the same boat.’”
Green and Elpers actually crossed paths several times before “The Voice.” They met while performing at the 2019 Vanderburgh County Fair, where Elpers sang the national anthem and Green, then a rising star, shared a set with Morgan Wallen. Four years later, Elpers opened for Green at a music festival in Missouri. “He’s an artist who has created some wonderful music, and we’ve grown up on a lot of the same music,” she says. As singer-songwriters experiencing their first televised competition, “We can be on the same level, even as a coach and an artist. … Riley as my coach is a full-circle moment.”
Elpers filmed her appearance in the Battle Round on a California soundstage over the summer. Although she’s required to stay mum on whether she advanced, she can talk publicly about her experience on Team Riley, including how she became fast friends with her fellow singers. “You become really close with other artists. You’re all from different places. It felt like we were all at band camp!” she laughs. “I’ve gained some incredible collaborations for the future. I’ve gotten to network. The friendships I’m making, it’s remarkable. You become one big family.”
Also part of the family are those working behind the scenes. “Going in, I thought, ‘This is TV. How are they going to treat us?’ But the producers and the team of people behind the scenes are really there for your best interest. It surprised me a little bit,” she says. “It is considered a competition, but at the end of the day, we’re a team, and teammates work together. That’s what I love the most.”
“The Voice” became a fan favorite TV show for Elpers and her family while she was growing up in Cynthiana, Indiana. Watching episodes with her father Dan, mother Dana, and brothers Kaleb and Josh, “I loved seeing new artists and what kind of music people were making,” Elpers says.
Now, Southwestern Indiana is cheering her on — including at this weekend’s Autumnfest in Poseyville — as Elpers aims for a spot in the Live Shows, which are expected to air over six weeks in November and December.
“My dad does not fly, and my parents went to California to watch the blind auditions,” she says. “They’ve been right next to me through this whole journey, traveling with me, driving me to shows across the Midwest, working long hours so I can do what I love to do. They’re my rock.”
Watch Elpers on Season 30 of “The Voice” when NBC airs new episodes at 7 p.m. Central Time on Mondays and Tuesdays; episodes are available for streaming on Peacock the day after the broadcast. For the first time, Live Shows will stream live on Peacock, with fans voting live via text message and social media. Find information on Elpers’ future shows on her website.
